The Hook is what captures our attention and imagination. The Groove is that sound that just makes you feel right. 

  • Smooth Seas Lead Us to Yacht Rock Paradise

    If you didn’t pick up on the theme from my first Yacht Rock installment, if you want to plot a course to a treasure trove of Yacht Rock classics you need smooth seas. But while the motion of that ocean is the final, dramatic clue that reveals a Yacht Rock classic like its pulling the Read more

  • The Heart of Yachtness: One Man’s Voyage into the Depths of Smooth Musical Sophistication

    I’ve never been on a yacht. This is literally a journey of discovery out to sea and over the horizon into the unknown. The good news is that you don’t have to know your aft from a hole in the hull to pontificate about the Yacht Rock genre. There’s no seamanship required. Read more

  • We can dance if we want to

    I had one hand on the exit door when the space went black and a thundering industrial beat rattled my ears and pounded in my chest as the door vibrated against my hand. Up to the moment I placed my hand on the exit door, it was just a dance club. Any dance club. Nothing Read more

  • Was Michael Jackson’s masterwork a ‘Thriller’ for everyone?

    Musical milestones can be earth-moving. They can mark a sea change in the music world from how we create to how we listen, or how our musical tastes have evolved or shifted. The weight of some of these monumental moments are felt instantly, others stew and simmer for a time, while others are not recognized Read more

  • Stay in tune with the music lovers on your Christmas list

    If the thought of gifting another faux leather-wrapped manicure set, some novelty desk decor, or monogrammed wine bottle stopper has you singing the holiday gift blues, then I have a present for you.  All you have to do is unwrap the few hundred words below to discover the next memorable gift that will be music Read more

  • Are you making a list, and checking it twice?

    It was exactly three decades ago that we learned all Mariah Carey wants for Christmas is us. Just more Christmas lore. It’s ok if you want to hear the over-the-top nod to Christmas romance on a loop, but remember, there’s so much more out there to treat your ears to some festive magic. There’s no denying Read more

  • We are all curators of music

    When did you make your first mixtape? Did you have the luxury of a Hi-Fi system with a turntable and dual cassettes? Did you perfect your record button timing, developing a hair-trigger efficiency that allowed you to skip the last ramblings of the DJ but still catch the first note of the tune you’d been Read more

  • Don’t forget to listen

    Is it outrageous for someone writing a blog about music to say I sometimes forget to listen to music? I do. Life interrupts. Not only do we sometimes get too busy for our favorite pastimes, sometimes we’re in a mood where we just don’t want to do anything.  The election took it out of me, Read more

  • Cold War Classics

    The 1980s were jammed with one-hit wonders riding the new wave tidal wave behind fresh digital music technology and a heavy dose of synthesizer experimentation.  On its surface, the decade seemed to exist in a neon bubble overflowing with frivolous party songs, prepackaged nostalgia and self indulgence. Let’s be honest, you know you were focused Read more

  • The inexplicable draw of music

    My dad would sit in the floor for hours, oversized headphones on his head, tethered to the console on the homemade shelf as he listened to one record after another. As he listened to one, he would very slowly, with great attention to detail, drag the velvet brush in a circular motion tracing the grooves Read more